I had originally planned on doing a 16 week schedule using the Hanson's plan to get ready for New York City, but considering all of the minor nicks that I've accumulated over the years, I've decided to modify my approach a bit and go with a 4 days a week running and 3 days biking approach. I'm sure I'll incorporate some days off in the plan by biking and running on the same day occasionally, but for now I've got it set up so I'm doing something every day. I'll post the full schedule once I finish the fine tuning, but it will generally probably involve two workouts, a short easy run, and a long run every week plus three generally pretty easy bike rides of varying lengths.

This week was week 1 of 18 so I'll just give a quick summary of the workouts.

Monday was an off day and I got a massage to work out some of the kinks in my piriformis and found out there was a pretty significant knot in my gluteus medius that was causing me some sciatic nerve pain. That's been relieved significantly, but I'm going to do the massage thing on a semi-regular basis to try to keep some of the niggles at bay.

Tuesday-just an easy 6 miles to get the legs moving.

Wednesday-I did the first speed work of any kind in quite a while. 9 miles total with 10 x 90 second fartlek incorporated. I did this on a treadmill because it was dark out and knocked them out at 6:40 pace, so I was doing nearly 400m on each one but with a relatively long recovery period of about 600m.

Thursday-I got a road bike from one of my brothers that he hasn't been using so i could see if I enjoy the biking and will stick with it. This was my longest ride so far of almost 27 miles. I haven't really pushed myself on the bike at all and am still getting used to it, but I'm definitely liking how much easier it is on the body while still being able to get in a decent workout. Averaged about 17.4 mph on this ride.

Friday-another easy and uneventful 6 miles.

Saturday-the original plan was to do my long run this morning, but I was feeling creaky and then it kind of got late and warm so I decided to head out for a 16 mile bike ride. I took it pretty easy, knowing a long run was in the offing tomorrow morning.

Sunday-in spite of a sort of late night out with friends involving a few cocktails, I managed to roll out of bed by 7:00 and get my water dropped and get back out the door by around 7:30. I got lucky and it was relatively cool this morning even though it hit 93 today. I did forget to grab a gel on the way out the door and that made the last mile or so a bit of an effort, but I knocked out 15 at 8:26 pace. This was my longest run of the year to date. I'm kind of a slacker!

So, for the week: 36 miles running and 43 miles on the bike, plus a 2.5 mile walk to the park and swimming today with the munchkin.

@Nick Morris wrote:Looks like a pretty interesting, but solid training program. I am interested to see how much the biking will help you with your running. Also, I don't want to hear you whine about the weather

I don't know that the biking will really help all that much, but it'll keep the aerobic fitness up while greatly reducing the stress on some of the more vulnerable parts of the body.

@Mark B wrote:Nice work in this first week of your program, Jim! Thanks for posting the details.

I'll be interested to see how this run-bike program works out for you, and how long it takes for you to start doing triathlons.

Triathlons, no way! I swim okay, but have no desire to do it over an extended distance.

@Dave-O wrote:Glad to see you blogging again, Jim. Here's to a healthy training cycle!

Here's hoping! I think less pounding on my body will really help, and getting in quality workouts regularly with rides to shake the legs out should be a recipe for success.

Between the Hanson's book and a Matt Fitzgerald book on cross training, I think I'm about ready for the finishing touches on the training program. Now it'll just be a matter of actually sticking to it and getting the work done.

Monday I went out for a 16 mile ride after a massage, which will probably taper off to a monthly thing going forward. I took last night off and will head to the gym tonight to knock out some 400s as prescribed by the Hanson brothers.

I am definitely interested in following your training cycle to see how it works out for you. I find it interesting the mixing of biking, plus running. So please follow through on the program Looking good so far!!!

You ever use an elliptical machine? Like the bike, its a way to get in a good cardio workout without taxing the impact muscles that running does. I used it a bunch after my surgery and will keep using it on days I want to lessen the wear and tear. Might make sense on some days when you can't get out there on two wheels.

@Nick Morris wrote:I am definitely interested in following your training cycle to see how it works out for you. I find it interesting the mixing of biking, plus running. So please follow through on the program Looking good so far!!!

I'll get it up here soon Nick. Keep in mind that the bike I'm using is a road bike and it's a fairly expensive investment if you decide to go that route at some point. I got lucky in that the one I'm using now is a loaner, but I'll probably take the plunge and get a newer, lighter one assuming I decide to stick with it.

@Chris M wrote:You ever use an elliptical machine? Like the bike, its a way to get in a good cardio workout without taxing the impact muscles that running does. I used it a bunch after my surgery and will keep using it on days I want to lessen the wear and tear. Might make sense on some days when you can't get out there on two wheels.

Yeah, I've tried them and I'm just really uncomfortable on them. Do you use the arm things as well as the legs? That's the part that really makes me feel awkward on them. Do you just go by time and HR to determine a workout or what's your method of figuring out an equivalent workout?

I typically don't use the arm thing and either hold on to the middle handles that don't move or let my arms swing free. I sort of mimic my cadence in running which means that I turn the resistance down quite a bit to low levels and let my legs swing pretty quickly. I'm not looking for slow burn climbing type work, just the closest thing to running I've found but without the ground impact. Takes a bit to get used to but now I'll sometime substitute 60 mins on that for a 60 min run. So I guess I am doing "time for time" but trying to mimic the quicker turnover of running with how I set the elliptical when I use it.

Here's the plan as promised. I'm kind of winging it on the biking and getting in what I can on the days I have it planned. This week is already a bit off as I rode Monday, took Tuesday off, did 8 x 400 yesterday in the blazing heat and then got in an easy 5 today. I'm hoping to get in a ride tomorrow morning before heading to Chicago tomorrow for the Cubs Cards game on Saturday. We're staying out in the burbs so I think I'll probably hit Busse for a run on Saturday morning

I did get in a ride on Friday morning before jumping in the car and making the ridiculously long trek to Chicago. What should have been about a 4 1/2 hour trip ended up as a little over 6 hour trip and instead of being at Soldier Field by 7:30, we got there at 8:15. Fortunately, to the girlfriend's delight, Bon Jovi didn't start until 9:00, so disaster was averted. It was a pretty good show, beers were had, and a loooong trip back to the hotel ended the night at around 2:00 am.

Saturday, needless to say, didn't exactly get off to an early start. I did manage to get over to Busse Woods with my brain in a slight fog and get in 8 miles before heading down to Wrigley for an afternoon of drinking and rooting for the Cubs. Met some friends for beers before the game, had a few more at the game, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the Cubs beat the Cardinals with my Cards fans girlfriend. We hit a place called Pequod's for a late night pizza after the game and while it was very good, it didn't come close to matching my all time favorite Lou Malnati's.

After 2 pretty late nights, I was pretty beat today and between that and another 5 hours in the car, I didn't get in my planned long run, which was going to be a step back to 12 this week anyway. I think I'll get up early tomorrow and get it done since I'll have a little extra time in the morning because lucky me got called for jury duty. First time I've ever been called, so it should be an interesting experience.

Glad you root for the Cubbies, that definitely requires some drinking, so you have the correct approach. As for your training schedule, looks good. Do you have some hills during those tempos or long runs? That would be ideal to get ready to challenge NYC. Good luck!

Yep, hills are definitely in the plan as it's a rather weak spot for me. I'm going to try to get to Forest Park in St. Louis after work at least once a week for a run and then do 1 of every 3 long runs there as well. That should have me well prepared (or at least as well prepared as I'm going to get) for the hills in NYC.

I managed to get my butt out of bed early enough this morning to knock out 12 miles before jury duty. I got there at 9:00 and got sent home around 10:45 with orders to show back up tomorrow at 9:00 again. Oh joy! At least I've been able to get a few errands taken care of today.

I had planned on getting up early this morning to get in the scheduled 8 x 600 today, but I was feeling a little creaky and didn't sleep all that well last night so I skipped it this morning and headed off to jury duty.

I got myself removed from consideration when the plaintiff's lawyer asked if anyone would have a problem finding a manufacturer who made something to the minimum required standards responsible when an accident happened and someone got injured. I said absolutely because they met the standards required by law at the time the part was made so if there was any liability it would be with whoever came up with the standard that wasn't adequate. Not surprisingly, I didn't get picked as one of the 14 jurors and alternates out of the 50 of us in the pool.

So, I went and picked up the kiddo and headed to the Y for my workout. I knocked out the 8 x 600 at 6:40 pace without any issue and really felt pretty good doing it. I can definitely tell the fitness is coming around a bit because doing this workout the day after 12 miles, even if I did get a day and a half recovery, is something that would have been tough for me to pull off 3 weeks ago.

My bike has been tuned up and freshened up a bit, so I'll get in a ride tomorrow and be back on schedule for the week.

@Dave-O wrote:That's an interesting voir dire question. I'm surprised the judge allowed it. And I'm surprised the Plaintiff's attorney was able to find 12 jurors that answered in the positive.

It was posed as a group question and if you would have an issue with it he asked you to speak up. After seeing the way he went about things, he's not a guy I'd pick to be my lawyer. He did get objected to at one point for discussing facts of the case in his questioning, but the judge overruled it. It was an interesting experience, but I'm glad I won't be stuck on that jury for the next week or so. I'll be surprised if they find in favor of the plaintiff too based on what I know of the case.